Advani describes UPA as 'cabal' with internal contradictions

Chandigarh, Dec 30 (UNI) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) senior leader and its Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani today said the UPA was not a coalition but a "cabal" afflicted with internal contradictions.

"The contradictions became most starkly manifest over the issue of the Indo-US nuclear deal, in which the Congress leadership has tried to mortgage India's strategic defence autonomy to some illusory gains in energy security", he said while addressing a press conference here.

He said the debate on the nuclear deal had clearly shown that the BJP was the only party that had "a clear, comprehensive and principled approach to all the issue associated with the deal".

It has also exposed the Communist parties' lack of concern for country's national security, since they have doggedly refused to make constraints on future nuclear testing an issue for opposing the deal, he added.

Mr Advani said it was really pathetic to see the CPI and the CPI(M) welcome nuclear weapons possessed by China and Russia, but oppose India's own nuclear deterrent.

The internal squabbles between the UPA and the left showed that the only thing that keeps them together is their "blind anti-BJPism", he added. To ensure that the BJP does not return to power, he said the two seem ready for any compromise.

Mr Advani, however, said they would not be able to stop the comeback march of the BJP.

UNI